About

$53,169

pledged of $25,000 goal

709

backers

Stretch Goals

First off, a thank you to everyone that helped us reach our initial goal of $25,000. This will greatly help us build a better end product and have a much better experience in Alpha and Beta moving forward. As with other projects we announced our Stretch Goals for $35,000, $40,000, $45,000, and $50,000. Our adjustments based on those goals are as follows:

$35,000

Extra kickstarter token at the $10 level. Everyone at and above this level gets the extra token (so if it was 3 you now have 4).

Name Reservation at the $20 level (and above). We will reserve a name that passes our naming standards for you.

Tattoos for players

Painting for vehicles

Decals for vehicles

$40,000

Nation/Stationary Mountable Turrets

Earrings and Nose Ring Options

$45,000

Major User Interface Upgrade (compared to what we would do without hitting this goal)

Eye Wear Options

$50,000

New Content - Underwater City

New NPC Species voted on by all kickstarter backers

$55,000

Underwater vehicles for the Underwater City content

Adjustments

The following adjustments were made with no stretch goals tied to them.

$100 - Beta Preview - A few days in early before Beta to chat with the developers about the game and to get a preview as well.

$250 - Beta Preview + - Your avatar will also be part of a video produced from the event.

$500 - A recipe will also be included that you may use to create a copy for other players.

$750 - A recipe will also be included that you may use to create a copy for other players.

$1000+ - You will have the option to place the statue in your Nation as well.

> $1000 Tiers - The old tiers were removed and the pricing was adjusted and the statues were included in all of the tiers.

The Repopulation is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. The action takes place on the planet Rhyldan, with the only known remaining human population fighting for their very existence. The indigenous life forms did not meet their colonization efforts with open arms. Worse yet, humans have managed to splinter themselves into warring factions.

It is a sandbox oriented MMORPG with an eye on innovation. Rather than forcing players down preset paths they are instead allowed to walk the path which they enjoy the most. With a variety of combat oriented and non-combat activities to pursue, we believe we’ve created a game that can stand the test of time.

Quotes Out Of Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2012

“I really could go on and on about everything I saw at GDC, like how credits in-game will be earned through the mission system... but I had to be dragged out of the interview because I was so riveted!” - Massively.com’s MJ Guthrie

“The Repopulation was one of our biggest surprises of GDC, and looked better in pre-alpha than a number of beta MMOs we’ve seen. ”- TenTonHammer.com

“Not since Star Wars Galaxies have we seen a game so focused on non-combat feature sets”- Massively.com’s Jef Reahard

What Sets us apart?

Nation System

Unique three faction PvP system where the third faction allows characters to create their own independent Rogue Nations.

Player created city system allows players to form and design their own cities, structures and homes.

Nations can own multiple cities, and even besiege the cities of their enemies.

Mayors can be assigned to oversee a city and manage it using strategies. Keeping your citizens happy is important.

Military advancement system which rewards players with unique titles, abilities and items.

Set your reaction to other nations to one of five different levels ranging from Ally to Nemesis.

Create up to 99 ranks for your nation, each with their own customizable names and settings.

Mission System

An Advanced Generated Mission system allows us to create complex multi-stage missions which are tailored specifically for your character.

Missions can have branching outcomes based on a player’s actions.

Generated missions are mailed to your character as job offers and are accessible from anywhere in the game using your in-game PDA system.

NPCs can talk about things that have happened to them to other players and NPCs.

Your actions will be remembered by NPCs, and they may exploit your tendencies if you let them.

One Time Missions spawn in random locations throughout the wilderness to encourage exploration.

Players can filter which types of missions they wish to receive, so only those missions are generated for them.

Missions are not all combat oriented. There are crafting, harvesting, diplomatic, and other non-combat variations available.

Completing missions in a group will generate bonus rewards and automatically split them among your group.

Skill and Ability System

Skills based gameplay which features 75 unique skills, and 14 tiers within each skill line.

Players are not forced into combat roles. Crafting, harvesting, diplomatic or other non-combat oriented skills can operate and progress independently of combat.

Skills increase automatically through use. Abilities are earned and not given automatically.

Skill Imprinting system allows you to imprint knowledge of skills into yourself, to make up for time lost while doing activities such as missions.

Fitting and Socket System

Fitting system allows players to customize their appearance and stats to their playstyle.

Most of the equipable items in The Repopulation are cosmetic shells which set the category of armor or weapon in that slot. The bulk of their stats come from their five fitting slots.

Fittings are similar to sockets or augmentations in some other games, but are available on most armor and weapon items from the very beginning of the game.

Engagement System

Engagements are similar to public quests which can mutate and spread throughout an area, changing its appearance or content.

How players respond to an engagement will affect how it progresses or spreads.

Engagements are intended to get players working together from the early stages of the game or encourage exploration.

There are both combat and non-combat oriented engagements.

Settlements can turn into dungeons and towns can be overrun. Allowing this to happen can seriously alter the content available in an area.

Player vs. Player engagements are similar to Open World battlegrounds.

Pet System

Three unique types of pets: Tamed, Genetically Engineered and Robotic. Each has their own systems and benefits.

Tame animals when they are young, then have them slowly grow into fully matured pets if they receive proper care and feeding.

Genetically engineer species and hybrids by splicing DNA and Tissue from different species.

Robotic pets can serve a variety of different combat and non-combat roles.

Crafting System

Advanced Crafting systems which allows players to create thousands of variations of items through a total of 23 different trade skills.

Harvesting system allows players to harvest their resources in both combat and non-combat related fashions. Over-harvested areas will run dry of resources and recover slowly, rewarding players for discovering more remote locations.

Event system will require players to make decisions during the crafting process which will influence their result.

Each of the game’s recipe has its own mastery level which can be increased to produce higher quality items.

Access the Auction Network from anyplace in the world using your in-game PDA.

Combat System

Two distinct modes of combat: Action Mode and RPG Mode. RPG Mode works like traditional RPG combat. Action Mode allows players to control the game in ways similar to a First Person Shooter. You can toggle between these modes at any time.

Several twists to make combat more interesting including Momentum, Limb Targeting, Species Mastery, Energy Shields, Cover, and Postures..

Generated special abilities system for bosses will force groups or raids to adjust on the fly when fighting bosses, rather than simply looking up spoiler information on the internet.

Encourages grouping with a slew of social features such as skill gain bonuses and treasure bonuses while grouped. Along with those bonuses, abilities make use of openings created by other abilities allowing for players to exploit those openings.

Vehicles can serve in combat roles.

Why Kickstarter?

Above and Beyond Technologies is an independently owned development studio. It consists of a small team which has spent every last moment of free time at their disposal to fund and develop this title over the past four years. Each of our team members either works a day job, or makes ends meet by working as an independent contractor. We’ve invested years worth of our time because we believe strongly in this project and that it will be a success. You may be wondering why we would look to kickstart now?

We’re realists. We realize that the game’s success lies not only in its feature list and gameplay, but in the level of polish and presentation that it can provide at launch. Unfortunately indie studios often find themselves in positions where they simply have run out of funds and are forced to launch a game that is buggy and unpolished. Kickstarter will help ensure that this does not happen with The Repopulation.

To date we’ve managed to keep our costs down to a minimum due to our core team working for free, and by outsourcing to affordable contractors out of our own pockets. We were prepared to do this until launch, but the amount of interest in this project over the past few months has led us to believe that we owe our rapidly growing user base the most polished content we can provide at launch. We’re kickstarting to ensure that we can accomplish that.

Even without kickstarter we are planning a launch in 2013 with all the features listed. A major part of developing any game, whether it is a simple single player game or a huge MMO, is offering more options and variety. Even with our very modest target for our kickstarter campaign this will help us to add more of the following into The Repopulation

More NPC Species, which may also serve as pets.

More refined animations for both players and npc species.

Even more armor pieces, hair options, weapon models, etc.

More advanced mission templates for an even more enjoyable mission experience.

More special effects for abilities.

More UI work for better overall usability and visuals.

Additional motion capture animations and emotes.

Improved cinematic effects for Missions and Engagements.

More aggressive beta and release schedule.

These are small touches that can make the difference between a good experience and a great experience. Many of these options also add content into The Repopulation, expanding the amount of gameplay that will be available upon release.

We start private Alpha testing for a lucky handful in late June of this year and will slowly start adding more individuals in for testing for the remainder of the year. Beta will be ready late this year or early next. As a thanks for backing us, the early tiers are getting a very lucrative break on the eventual costs once the game is released, so you are doing more than simply pledging to the cause, you are pre-ordering as well.

Want to learn more about us?

We encourage you to visit our website and check out the Game
Features section along with the FAQ section that has quite a bit of
detail about the many aspects of our game. Check out the Forums for some
detailed discussions between the developers and the community, check
out our Youtube channel for most of the videos shown here, and if you
want more outside details check out the Press Features for written,
audio, and video interviews with the developers.

We are a small and ambitious Indy team and we strongly hope you will
support us in the process to build a game with a strong and vibrant
community for years to come.

What do all these pledge offerings mean?

We have a wide variety of offerings for our pledges so this section will explain what those are in detail so you know what you are getting. Many of the early tiers offer a substantial reduction in cost of packages and credits that will be available upon launch so not only are you donating to the cause, you are getting memberships and store credits for half off. If you have any further questions by all means ask us so we can sort out any confusion.

Membership Package

We are what is called in the industry a Free to Play (F2P) title. We distribute the game for free and you can play it at no continuing cost. Obviously, the game will not last very long if no one pays any money so we sell memberships with additional perks. Our planned initial offerings for the memberships include additional character, inventory, bank, shared bank, mission, housing, and auction slots. There are 3 membership levels available and the higher end memberships offer more slots. Additionally, Silver membership will offer access to be part of the City Council and be part of Nation Leadership, Gold Membership will open up being a City Mayor, and Platinum Membership will allow you to create a Nation. Memberships are offered at a discount through kickstarter and will be available for future purchase upon release and each membership includes the previous ones. Memberships are one time purchases and will never expire. Kickstarter Memberships will be given at release and are non refundable.

Store Credit

Part of being F2P is that we have what is also called a cash shop where players can purchase in game items. We do not sell what are considered Pay 2 Win (P2W) items that require players to spend money in hopes to compete in the game; instead, we sell cosmetic items that players can use in game along with a small variety of time saving options such as what is commonly referred to as an experience potion. Store Credit can also be used to purchase a membership if you don’t have all of the levels. We understand the value of both paying and non paying customers and want to provide extract incentives to paying customers without non paying customers feeling like they are playing a demo. Kickstarter Store Credit will be given at release and is non refundable.

Beta Testing

Beta testing is the process before release where the game is nearly complete and players are allowed to play to test out the game. They help with final bug reporting and to stress test the servers. We are offering 2 levels of Beta testing as part of the pledges.

Preferred access will give you guaranteed access to the 2nd round of Beta testing to happen shortly after the 1st period. Some preferred accounts will randomly get access to the 1st as well depending on how many there are.

Guaranteed access will give you guaranteed access to the the 1st round of Beta testing to happen after Alpha testing ends. Some guaranteed accounts will randomly get access to Alpha testing during phase 2 if they are not part of phase 1.

Head Start

Once Beta is over and the servers are ready to be opened you will get a head start on everyone else. The listed is the minimum you will be given and there might be more based on the number of players. If there is any kind of queue or limit on active accounts upon release any head start member will skip this aspect and be included in the initial count. There will be no data wipe during this process so whatever you have you get to keep once the general public is allowed on the server.

Titles

You will be granted titles that are exclusive to this promotion that can be used in game. These perks will not be available for purchase upon release.

Kickstarter tokens

These are special tokens that can be used to get special in game items as a thank you for supporting us. Instead of giving specific ones at each level we will offer you tokens and you will have a choice of different options with some costing more than 1 token. These items will be cosmetic in nature only and will not give you any additional functionality or power over other players. Examples of what you can expect are: equipable shell items such as armor, weapons, and clothing, a special edition vehicle, and trinkets and even special buildings for your housing and nation.

Founder or Voyage plaque

The Founder Plaque and Voyage Plaque are large monuments that will be displayed in both of the major cities in the game for either the OWON and FPR faction. We will etch an approved name into one of the monuments for everyone to see in game. We will also do a “photo-op” with everyone in game if there is interest once in Beta for everyone to keep as a momento if they wish. This plaque is awarded to all other tiers above it as well.

There are additional levels that will get you a higher rank on the plaque so you will be listed with less people. A small plaque will be given that can be used in your private housing to show off as well at higher tiers.

Character Name inserted into Lore

An approved name of your choosing will be inserted into the game lore. We will present you with a few options on where it can go and you will choose from them. The reference will be a minor one and will not be associated with an NPC unless you have an NPC at another tier.

NPC

We will work with you on the appearance and name of an NPC that will be used in the game and players will interact with on at different levels. In higher tiers you will specify Personality, Profession and Mood for your NPC that allows the NPC to be part of more missions tailored to your liking. This could include different traits that can be viewed as positive or negative depending on how you look at it. We reserve the right to deny any suggestions here and hope of course we do not have to do that. Part of this perk is that we will perform this on the development server so you will get to watch as we do it in realtime and the next update your NPC will be live in the testing environment. Development server access is for the period of time only to create the NPC unless you have previous access for some other reason.

Custom Weapon

This is a truly custom weapon that will be a different look from the others in the game and unique in that sense. Since we use what we call shells for items the weapon will not have any advantage over others besides people drooling over it while you stand there. We will try to work with you on tweaking it some, but please understand we will present some ideas and go with some minor modifications from there. If you are capable of drawing or designing the weapon we will try to work from that as well to the best of our ability. Part of this perk is that we will perform this on the development server so you will get to watch as we do it in realtime and the next update your weapon will be live in the testing environment. Development server access is for the period of time only to create the weapon unless you have previous access for some other reason.

Monument

Along with the giant plaque, each city will have 12 statue monuments to some of the great leaders of the past. We will work with you on becoming one of those statues and introducing some lore into the game about that individual. We do reserve some rights on how far we can go with the lore and will try to work with you the best we can. Part of this perk is that we will perform this on the development server so you will get to watch as we do it in realtime and the next update your statue will be live in the testing environment. Development server access is for the period of time only to create the statue unless you have previous access for some other reason.

NPC Species

Want to join the fun of creating an NPC species? You will work with one of our artists on building a custom creature that will be all over the world for you to kill or be killed by. You will also work with our lore folks to build a story around the critter and be generally involved in the process. Part of this perk is that we will perform this on the development server so you will get to watch as we do it in realtime and the next update your NPC creature will be live in the testing environment. Development server access is for the period of time only to create the NPC creature unless you have previous access for some other reason.

Generated Mission Template

Wow thanks for supporting us, first off. You will get to work with the team first hand to create a generated mission template that will be used in game. We will work with you on a complex generated mission up to 20 steps. This will be much more complicated than a simple kill 10 of x mission and hopefully other players will appreciate the work everyone put into this.

Meet and greet at a major gaming conference

Choose a conference of your choice in 2012-2013 in the continental US and we will meet up with you and do dinner with you and up to 4 guests. If we can arrange to do something during the conference we will try to make that happen as well, as you helped us out quite a bit. We are open to suggestions here if you are serious about this tier or anything higher so please contact us with your ideas and we will be more than happy to listen.

Notes from the pledge levels:

* Membership packages are a basic collection of useful account upgrades at a discounted price. This includes things like additional inventory, character and bank slots.** Store Credit is non-refundable. It may be spent in our microtransaction store once the game goes live. This will allow you to purchase account upgrades, cosmetic items or perks. *** Names are subject to the our Naming Policy. If we feel a name is inappropriate we will allow you to change it to a different name that fits into our guidelines.**** Content is all subject to lore and quality control restrictions. Our staff will work with you to try to bring your vision to the game, but we reserve the right to balance or modify content for lore purposes. We will keep you in the loop and provide you with early details as we implement your content.***** These tokens may be redeemed for special cosmetic or furniture items that will only be available through this Kickstarter opportunity.****** We reserve the right to reject any logos which we feel to be inappropriate. In the event that this occurs you will be able to substitute your logo for a more appropriate one.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 20 or more
About US$ 20

You receive $20 in store credit which can be redeemed when the game ships**, as well as your Silver Membership package*. Your account will gain access to the prefix title “Founder” which will be available exclusively through this Kickstarter opportunity. In addition, you will be given preferred access to private Beta Testing. Your account will be credited with a Kickstarter Token, which can be redeemed in game for your choice of special rewards*****.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 30 or more
About US$ 30

In addition to previous rewards, you will receive an additional $20 in store credit** for a total of $40.00. You are guaranteed at least a 1 day head start before the servers open to the general public.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 40 or more
About US$ 40

In addition to previous rewards, your membership is upgraded to the $40 Gold Membership. You are also now guaranteed at least a 2 day head start before the servers open to the general public. Your account will be credited with an additional Kickstarter Token*****, bringing your total to 2.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 50 or more
About US$ 50

In addition to previous rewards, and you will receive an additional $20 in store credit bringing your total up to $60. You will also receive another Kickstarter Token*****, bringing your total to 3. You will be upgraded from preferred to Guaranteed access to private Beta testing.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 80 or more
About US$ 80

In addition to previous rewards, you will receive $15 in store credit** for a total of $80. You will also have an extra day head start bringing the total to 3 days. Last but not least your account is credited with an additional Kickstarter Token*****, bringing the total to 4 tokens.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 100 or more
About US$ 100

In addition to previous rewards, the name of your choice*** will be added to your choice of OWON’s Voyage Plaque or FPR’s Founder Plaque in game, and on our web site. The OWON Voyage Plaque is a monument that houses the names of the men and women from the Northern Star colonial vessel. The FPR Founder Plaque is a monument listing the names of the founders of Freedomtown. These plaques will be permanent fixtures in the game world to commemorate your contribution. You will also have an extra day head start bringing the total to 4 days and an additional $20 in store credit bringing the total to $100.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 150 or more
About US$ 150

In addition to previous rewards, your account will gain access to the suffix title “Northern Star Veteran” which will be available exclusively through this Kickstarter opportunity. The TSS Northern Star was the original colonial vessel on Rhyldan. You will also receive a preferred position on the Founder or Voyage Plaque and on our web site. You additionally receive a unique plaque that can be placed in your virtual home as a furniture decoration. Your account will be credited with an additional 2 Kickstarter Tokens*****, bringing your total to 8.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 200 or more
About US$ 200

In addition to previous rewards, a character name*** of your choice will be subtly inserted into one of the items in the game. For example, there may be a book written by your character name, or your name will be on a client list, etc. You will also receive an additional 2 Kickstarter Tokens bringing your total up to 10 and an additional extra day head start bringing the total to 6 days.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 250 or more
About US$ 250

In addition to previous rewards, you will have an NPC created in game with your input. You will be able to specify the NPCs name***, gender and have some control over their appearance. You will receive one of the the highest placement positions on the Founder or Voyage Plaque. You will receive an additional guaranteed day of head start access, bringing your total to 7 days.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 350 or more
About US$ 350

In addition to the previous rewards, you will be able to select a Personality, Profession and Mood for your NPC likeness. These traits will allow your NPC to take part in more generated mission opportunities that will be given to players in the game. You will receive an additional guaranteed day of head start access, bringing your total to 8 days.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 500 or more
About US$ 500

In addition to previous rewards, we will allow you to submit a custom logo that will be added to a specific standard piece of armor or clothing that others can see in game******. This will be an account wide perk and the piece can be claimed by all of the characters on your account. Your name will be listed in the credits and on our web site as a Sponsor***. You will receive an additional guaranteed day of head start access, bringing the total to 9 days.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 750 or more
About US$ 750

In addition to previous rewards, you will receive a custom weapon with the name of your choosing***. This will be a cosmetic item, with the exact same stats as the store bought variant (all of our stats come from Fittings), but it will be a status symbol. You will receive an additional guaranteed day of head start access, bringing the total to 10 days. The 10 day head start can also be shared with 5 other accounts of your choosing.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 1,000 or more
About US$ 1,000

In addition to previous rewards, we will allocate a Statue monument to you created in your choice of Plymouth or Freedomtown. You will be given your choice of which of these two areas they will appear in, but it is first come first serve and only twelve monuments are available on each side. We’ll also work with you to provide some backstory and lore as to why this character was important****

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 1,250 or more
About US$ 1,250

In addition to $1000 rewards, you will have a second NPC created in game with your input. You will be able to specify the NPCs name***, gender, have some control over their appearance, personality, mood, and profession.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 1,500 or more
About US$ 1,500

In addition to $1000 rewards, you will be able to select one of the two NPCs you created from the previous levels and we will move that NPC to either the OWON or FPR tutorial areas. You will be given your choice of which of these two areas they will appear in, but it is first come first serve and only ten NPCs are available on each side. In the case that these slots have all been sold out and you are receiving this option through a higher priced pledge, we will substitute this reward by creating an additional NPC with your specifications elsewhere***.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 1,750 or more
About US$ 1,750

In addition to $1000 rewards, you will be able to work with our team on designing an NPC creature species****. You’ll have input on the name and visual appearance of this species, as well as on traits you’d like to see them possess***. In the case that these slots are full, then higher priced pledges levels will be able to substitute this slot with an additional NPC with their specifications***.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 3,000 or more
About US$ 3,000

We will include dinner for you and up to four guests at one of the conferences we attend in 2013. Transportation and lodging not included. You may also choose one of the $1250 to $2000 reward tiers that still has a slot open. You will be listed as an Executive Producer in the credits.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 10,000
About US$ 10,000

You will receive all of the rewards from all previous levels and a special monument will be placed in the OWON or FPR side commemorating your glorious acts.****. You will be listed as an Executive Producer in the credits.